Eating his half of the egg, Li Ji said slowly.
"We’re not short on them at the mansion, but I just wanted to share with you."
Hua Manman found his words a bit too intimate.
She couldn’t help but remind him.
"You already have a Princess Consort."
Li Ji raised an eyebrow. "So?"
Hua Manman said, "You should think more about your Princess Consort."
Li Ji looked at her meaningfully. "I’m always thinking of her."
Hua Manman relaxed. "That’s good, then."
’As long as he’s still thinking about his Princess Consort, it means he’s straight. He probably won’t get any funny ideas about me.’
Once they had nearly finished eating, Hua Manman finally got down to business.
"Regent Prince, why would you suddenly climb over the wall and show up at my place?"
Normally, anyone would be embarrassed by such a question.
But Li Ji wasn’t embarrassed at all.
He said matter-of-factly.
"I couldn’t be bothered to use the main gate, so I brought Gou Dan over the wall to see you."
Hua Manman said sternly.
"Don’t you think climbing walls is bad behavior?
Especially since you have a child with you.
You’ll give the child the wrong impression and make him think climbing walls is acceptable."
Li Ji seemed amused by her earnestness and couldn’t resist giving her another look.
"You’re quite thoughtful."
Hua Manman was speechless. "This is something any normal person should know."
Li Ji ignored her retort and said calmly.
"I’m usually very busy, with little time to look after my child.
It just so happens we’re neighbors. You could even call it fate.
Besides, you look like you’re good at taking care of people.
I wonder if the Princely Heir would be willing to help look after Gou Dan?"
Hua Manman hadn’t expected him to suddenly make such a request.
She actually wasn’t very good at taking care of children.
But for some reason, she didn’t really want to refuse.
’Li Xun was separated from his mother at a young age, and his father is such an eccentric. The boy must have suffered a great deal.’
Hua Manman’s heart ached for him.
She accepted the Regent King’s request.
Then she heard the Regent King speak again.
"This must be your first time in Shangjing, Princely Heir. Would you like to go out for a stroll? As it happens, I have nothing to do today, so I can accompany you around the capital."
Li Xun immediately piped up, "I want to go too!"
’I’m speechless. Just a moment ago, the Regent King said he was too busy to look after his son. How can he now claim he has nothing to do?’
’Not a single word out of this damn man’s mouth is true!’
Mr. Du was delighted to hear that the Young Master was going out shopping with the Regent King.
He was eager to see the relationship between the Young Master and the Regent King grow stronger.
Mr. Du had Ban Ren accompany the Young Master.
Mr. Du didn’t elaborate, but Ban Ren knew his duty was twofold: to protect the Young Master and to prevent him from escaping.
The group left Yu Royal Mansion and headed to the city’s most bustling district.
Hua Manman looked left and right, finding novelty in everything she saw.
Li Xun tugged at her sleeve, sticking close by her side.
As they passed Ning Cui House, Li Ji stopped.
Hua Manman looked at him in confusion.
"What’s wrong?"
Li Ji pointed to the adjacent Ning Cui House. "Let’s go in and take a look."
Hua Manman assumed he was buying cosmetics as a gift for someone, so she didn’t think much of it and led Li Xun into Ning Cui House.
But then Li Ji had the staff bring out all the best cosmetics in the shop, arranging them before Hua Manman and telling her to pick her favorites.
Hua Manman was stunned.
’Even though I’m a woman, my public identity right now is a man!’
’What kind of man uses cosmetics?’
She hurriedly refused, "No, no, I don’t need any."
Li Ji watched her with calm amusement. "How could you not need them? Didn’t you wear powder and rouge specifically to see me just last night?"
Upon hearing this, the gazes of the Shopkeeper and the staff toward Hua Manman changed instantly.
’Who would have thought this handsome young gentleman was so... adventurous in private?!’
Hua Manman was mortified.
’Last night, she’d deliberately caked her face with makeup just to gross out the Regent King.’
’Who could have guessed that not only would she fail to disgust him, but he would actually bring her here to buy new cosmetics?!’
’She had the distinct feeling that she had just shot herself in the foot.’
Hua Manman tried her best to ignore the strange looks from those around her.
"Thank you for your kindness, Prince, but I have plenty of cosmetics at home. They’re more than enough. There’s no need for you to go to this expense."
Li Ji replied, "The quality of your cosmetics is too poor. You should buy some better ones."
The Shopkeeper seized the opportunity to make a sale.
"You two both have excellent taste.
These cosmetics are all our store’s best-selling items. The previous batch completely sold out.
You absolutely won’t see such fine rouge and powder anywhere else.
Look how fine this powder is! It’s sure to make your face look fair and tender when applied. Would you like to try it?"
As he spoke, he pushed a cosmetics box towards Hua Manman.
Hua Manman quickly waved her hands in refusal.
The Shopkeeper said, "No need to be shy. There are no outsiders here. You can try them as much as you like."
Hua Manman insisted, "Really, there’s no need."
Seeing her face flush red with embarrassment, Li Ji couldn’t help but curve his lips into a soft smile.
"Pack all of these up. I’ll take them all."
The Shopkeeper immediately beamed with joy. "Right away!"
In just a moment, two heavy boxes were handed to Ban Ren.
Li Ji paid the bill and left.
Hua Manman thought that was the end of it and secretly sighed in relief.
But no sooner had Li Ji walked out of Ning Cui House than he turned into a fabric store.
As before, he had the shopkeeper bring out all the best fabrics, then picked out the bolts with the most garish patterns and said to Hua Manman.
"These fabrics should suit you perfectly."
Hua Manman looked at the bolts of garish red and green fabric and quickly shook her head.
"No, they don’t suit me at all."
Li Ji said, "How could they not? You were wearing clothes in these very colors when you came to see me last night. You even said you loved them."
Hua Manman: "..."
’It wasn’t me! I never said that! You’re making things up!’
With a grand wave of his hand, Li Ji declared, "I’ll take all of these."
The shopkeeper was overjoyed.
Although these fabrics were high quality, their overly gaudy patterns had made them unsellable for a long time.
The Shopkeeper had been prepared to take a loss on them, but now a major customer had appeared and bought the entire lot in one go.
Hua Manman looked at the Regent King as if he were a complete sucker.
"Do you really think those fabrics are attractive?"
Li Ji answered without a trace of hesitation, "They’re beautiful."
Hua Manman’s expression grew skeptical.
"I’m starting to question your taste."
But Li Ji just smiled. "There’s a very simple way to tell if someone has normal taste. You just have to ask them one question."
Hua Manman asked, "What question?"
Li Ji replied, "You ask if they’d be willing to marry you. If they say no, their taste is perfectly normal."
Hua Manman: "..."